Story Highlights

ST. GEORGE, Utah -- A statue on Dixie State College's campus depicting two Confederate soldiers carrying a Confederate flag was removed Thursday afternoon.

The decision was made Wednesday by Dixie State President Stephen Nadauld, who has been discussing the removal of the statue with administrators, college public relations director Steve Johnson said.

"It's a valuable piece of art, even though we understand it has been a focal point of contention as part of this university naming process over the last couple of weeks," Johnson said.

The discussion to remove the statue began once administrators became aware of the "people with issues with it being on our campus," Johnson said.

Some students and faculty had expressed dismay at the statue's presence, saying it portrays the school in a poor light. The discussion surfaced in connection with Dixie State preparing to be elevated to university status, which is expected to happen early next year.

"I think it's a big day in Dixie's history. It's a positive sign that we're moving forward," mass communications student Ryan Mayfield said. "I think if we're going to be a university we need to cater to everyone's feelings, not just the community."

The fate of the statue is still in question. It was originally donated to the city and county in the late 1980s when the Dixie State's current Avenna Center was the Dixie Convention Center. When a new convention center was built, the state acquired the old property and the statue remained, Johnson said.

It is unclear who owns the statue, he said, but the college has been in contact with the St. George city attorney's office about it.

"Until we find out who owns it, we decided to take it down to protect it because it's worth tens of thousands of dollars," Johnson said. "We don't want anything to happen to the statue or the integrity of the statue because the college doesn't want to be monetarily responsible."

The statue will be removed from campus and put into storage until it is decided who owns it. The statue was created by local sculptor Jerry Anderson.

"You can understand our sensitivity for wanting to protect the statue because a local Washington County resident created it," Johnson said.